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<br />Chapter I II
<br />
<br />AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND
<br />ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES
<br />
<br />Impacts
<br />
<br />Under the no-action alternative, routine maintenance and repairs would
<br />continue on sites that are features of irrigation systems. Impacts to
<br />historic and prehistoric sites that are under the jurisdiction or control
<br />of private interests and/or other government agencies are unknown. At a
<br />minimum, these impacts would consist of natural deterioration, normal wear
<br />and tear, and repair and maintenance.
<br />
<br />If archeological, paleontological, or historic resources are discovered
<br />during construction, construction at the site would be halted and a plan
<br />would be developed in consultation with the State Historic Preservation
<br />Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to mitigate Unit
<br />impacts on significant resources.
<br />
<br />Social and Economic Conditions
<br />
<br />Present Conditions
<br />
<br />PODulation.--Mesa County is the regional trading center for much of western
<br />Colorado. The largest city in the county, Grand Junction, had a 1980
<br />population of 28,144 and represents the largest urban center in the area.
<br />The population of the other major communities was Fruita, 2,810; Clifton,
<br />5,223; and Palisade, 1,551 (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
<br />Census, 1980). Energy development in the region during the 1970's induced
<br />rapid growth in the county population; during 1970, it was 54,374,
<br />increasing to 81,530 in 1980. This represented an average annual growth
<br />rate of 4.1 percent, which continued through 1981. Beginning in 1982,
<br />outmigration has been significant due to a sharp decline in all aspects of
<br />energy development. The area has been recovering the momentum of growth
<br />from other influences evident prior to the rush for energy development.
<br />The 1988 population estimates provided by the Colorado Department of Local
<br />Affairs reveal a county population of 88,277. Grand Junction was estimated
<br />to have 30,759 people, while the smaller communities were as follows:
<br />Fruita, 3,285; Palisade, 1,585; Collbran, 344; DeBeque, 295. These numbers
<br />do not clearly reflect the experience of near boom and anticipatory
<br />development followed by economic uncertainty and severe outmigration and
<br />slow recovery.
<br />
<br />The racial composition of Mesa County was 91.3 percent White, 0.2 percent
<br />Black, 0.7 percent American Indian, 0.5 percent Asian and Pacific Islander,
<br />and 0.2 percent Other. Spanish Origin, an ethnic category, is the largest
<br />minority group with 7.1 percent of the population.
<br />
<br />Emolovment and Income.--Mesa County employment increased from 22,314 in
<br />1970 to 37,009 in 1980, an average growth rate of 5.2 percent. Employment
<br />increases were substantial in retail trade, local and Federal Government,
<br />services and construction, and mining and mining-related industry. Keeping
<br />with trends toward farm consolidation and urban growth, a decline occurred
<br />in farming and farm labor in the area from 1970 to 1980 at a rate nearly
<br />double State and national rates.
<br />
<br />In 1980, the unemployment rate of 3.5 percent in Mesa County was the same
<br />as the State of Colorado. Per capita income in Mesa County in 1979 was
<br />about $7,200 or 90 percent of the statewide per capita income of $8,000.
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